Specialty meats
Chefs are reimagining menu staples with lamb, wild boar and more.
“More and more there is a whole gamut of proteins for patrons to choose from,” Ms. Kruse said. “Part of the driving force behind that is… protein has been trending for the last five years… but operators know very well that we’ve had disruption in our supply chain. Beef was in trouble a couple years ago. Poultry markets have been challenged. That has opened the door for some of you to go way beyond.”
Arby’s recently debuted two unexpected sandwiches, one featuring smokehouse pork belly cooked sous vide, and one with free-range, grass-fed venison topped with cabernet-juniper berry sauce.
Poke, the Hawaiian fish dish, is “hotter than a pistol,” Ms. Kruse said, adding, “my suspicion is in terms of customer interest it really will be relegated to sushi lovers or ceviche lovers.”
The next hot protein may be duck, she said, suggesting applications such as sausage, burgers, flatbreads, tacos and hot wings.
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Sophisticated sides
Sides are no longer sidelined, Ms. Kruse said. A category long lacking innovation, accompaniments are getting more culinary attention.
“The plant-forward interest has brought the side dish category along with it,” Ms. Kruse said.
At Houlihan’s, french-fried asparagus is dusted with parmesan and fresh parsley and served with a lemon-horseradish dipping sauce. Options at Smashburger include flash-fried green beans and carrot strips. Mimi’s Café offers “best-in-class” side dishes, Ms. Kruse said, including French lentils, roasted ratatouille and steak frites. The latter is described as “hand-cut, scratch-made, double-fried Russets” with sea salt and herbs.
“Talk about smart menu merchandising,” Ms. Kruse said. “That’s a winner.”
Future innovation in the side dish category will feature creative twists on fries, she said. SlapFish, a seafood chain on the East coast, for example features Chowder Fries, smothered in creamy clam chowder and bacon.
“It’s what you know, your customers love it, and there’s so much room to play there.”
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Snacks appeal
With over half of the population swapping meals for snacks, downsized portions are in demand. The fastest growing day part in restaurants is the afternoon snack period, Ms. Kruse said.
“In order to compete for snack business, a lot of the chains felt they needed to introduce special snack products,” she said.
An example in recent years was McDonald’s line of snack wraps, which were removed from menus after a short period due to low sales. A more successful promotion for the chain came earlier this year with the introduction of smaller and larger Big Mac options.
Consumers “have been interested in is existing, well-known items that have been resized,” Ms. Kruse said.
Similarly, Firehouse Subs recently saw success with a new line of smaller subs after a lower-calorie menu failed to gain a following with customers. And at Au Bon Pain, sales of a petite plate line have more than doubled over the past year, with items featuring the components of the chain’s popular sandwiches without the bread.
“This is tapping into that demand for protein enriched snacks with very few calories,” Ms. Kruse said.
Another example of small plates comes, surprisingly, from the Cheesecake Factory, which is known for large portions. The chain serves such items as crispy Cuban rolls, Korean fried cauliflower and truffle-bacon grilled cheese sticks.
“The Cheesecake Factory has a booming snacks and small plates section on their menu,” Ms. Kruse said. “The key to their success with smaller plates (is putting) the same culinary attention and creativity into the small dishes as it does to the large.”
What’s next? In the spirit of beer and wine tastings, flights are taking off in food, allowing a shareable and customizable experience in sampling miniature pizzas, burgers, pies and more.
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Just have fun
In times of economic and political turmoil, the restaurant industry represents “an affordable getaway” for adventure-seeking consumers, Ms. Kruse said. Lately, this has translated to a trend of fun, silly foods.
Recent examples include a Burger King milkshake blended with Kellogg’s Froot Loops and the rise of cookie butter as a flavor in ice cream and frozen yogurt at such shops as 16 Handles, Friendly’s and Carvel. Starbucks is serving a cookie butter bar, too, Ms. Kruse said.
Consumers may now eat raw cookie dough by the scoop at a New York cafe called Do or customize a donut ice cream sundae at Dough in Tampa, Fla.
“It’s only going to keep getting zanier and zanier,” Ms. Kruse said.
